Singapore  - Foreign investment in Singapore is expected to drop by almost half to about 10 billion Singapore dollars (6.66 billion US dollars) this year due to the global credit crunch, according to local news reports on Tuesday.

This year's foreign investment estimate by the Economic Development Board excludes projects that were put off due to the worldwide recession, the reports said, adding that 20 per cent of the projects were postponed and 2 per cent were cancelled outright last year.

"The present global economic uncertainty is very challenging for attracting new investments," the Straits Times quoted EDB chairman Lim Siong Guan as saying.

Foreign investments in Singapore reached 18 billion Singapore dollars (11.98 billion US dollars) last year, up from 17.2 billion Singapore dollars in 2007. (dpa)